


The Whole New Sandbox

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Mike Lu & Og, Recess
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-24 09:12:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2576075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spinelli is having a normal day in school, then suddenly, she's told she will become the newest exchange student on the Albonquetine Islands. Her parents had signed her up without telling her and she will be gone. Luckily for her, there's another non-island girl who can help show her around and hopefully be her friend while Spinelli is away from the old gang. What will happen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

Ashley Funicello Spinelli, if you were smart, you would just call her Spinelli, was the toughest kid on the playground. She was mighty tough for a fourth grader and it was wrong to mess with her. Whether calling her a girl, calling her a shorty, anything that could tick her off. Especially by her birth name...Ashley... Four annoying witchy girls shared that name in her school and she never once wanted to be them, not once, not ever, she hated them as much as she hated the school tattler, Randall Weems. Today was a seemingly normal school day, she went into Miss Grotke's room and sat at her desk. Luckily for her, she shared her class with her best friends.

Leader boy, TJ, future pro athlete, Vince, genius girl, Gretchen, new kid, but lovable, Gus, and slighty melodramatic Mikey. Some things changed recently, but it was still decent, and she was relieved that snippy old Miss Finster was out-of-town for a while during school to visit relatives. Spinelli anxiously waited for Miss Grotke, although no one knew it, she really looked up to her teacher, they really connected.

"Spinelli, please come to the principal's office, Spinelli..." the intercom rang.

Spinelli looked up and slightly jolted in her desk. Why was she called to the office? She hadn't done anything yet today, she even let this annoying boy who was harassing her on the bus get a break. Today just felt too perfect, then this happened. She looked around her classmates, shrugged and walked out of the classroom. Spinelli walked out and glared once she saw Randall in the hallways, who seemed lost without Miss Finster there with him.

"What'dya tell Prickly, weenie?" Spinelli snorted at the boy.

"What?" Randall just now noticed her. "I didn't do nuthin'!"

"Yeah, right, you snitched me for doing somethin', didn't ya?"

"Spinelli, I haven't done anything!"

The tomboy growled, grabbing him by his collar. "I bet you did... You stay here, I'll deal with you later..." she dropped the boy and went into the principal's office as instructed. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Miss Spinelli, come in," Prickly gestured her to come closer to his desk. Once she did, he continued speaking. "Now, I know how much you wanted it, so you're finally going to become an exchange student."

"What!" Spinelli's eyes widened. "I never said I wanted to be any exchange student..."

"That's funny, your parents and I talked during Parents Night and they said that you always wanted to be one."

"I'll kill those two and flee the country..." Spinelli grumbled under her breath, shaking her tiny fists. She then spoke up, still not ready for this. "When do I leave?"

"In a week or so, I want you to be on your best behavior for your new friends and family."

"New family? You mean my parents won't be there with me?"

"No, Spinelli, exchange students spend time with a host family and interact with the kids in their new school. Whatya say?"

Spinelli glowered at him and muttered aggressively again. "This whomps..."

"You may leave now."

Spinelli left the room, staring at the floor. What was she going to tell her friends and what kind of strange place was she going to? She would indeed tell them what's what, but would she be able to handle it? She was a pretty strong young girl, but this might be too much for her. She looked at the pamphlet for her future home for a while away from Third Street School. It wasn't a foreign country, but it seemed to be a secluded island in the middle of nowhere.

"It's a whole new sandbox..." Spinelli murmured as she went back to Miss Grotke's class and went to tell everyone about the exchange program.


	2. On the Island

TJ and Spinelli were on the other swing set while Swinger Girl was on her separate swing that she had been flying for what might have been her whole life. Spinelli had her head low as she grasped the handles and TJ was swinging slightly next to her.

"That's terrible, Spinelli, and your parents didn't even tell you?" TJ asked after the girl had told her what Principal Prickly had told her.

"Yeah, you think they would after I just learned to trust them." Spinelli scoffed as she swung back and forth, but in depression and aggression. This was really not a day of school she was looking forward to.

"Well, well, if it isn't the girl going to the desert island?" one of the Ashley's came to stalk the lower-class students they despise.

"Get lost, crème puffs, this day's terrible enough already!" Spinelli glared at them.

"Like, you'd really fit in with them, Spinelli." Ashley Q. remarked.

"Yeah, you're such a savage in this school and you weren't even raised on an island like those cannibals!" Ashley T. laughed.

They all laughed at her and walked off.

"On the bright side I'll be away from the butt heads." Spinelli snorted.

"Won't be the same without ya..." TJ sighed. "I kinda wanna give you something to remember me by."

"Not your hat, Teej, I couldn't do that to you."

"No, something else."

Spinelli's eyes widened slightly as TJ drew closer to her. "What're you-" suddenly, she received a sweet kiss on the lips. Her eyes grew wider than usual as she was kissed by the one and only, TJ Detweiler. "Whoa..." Spinelli whispered in shock.

TJ smiled, then kept swinging. "It really won't be the same without ya, Spinelli. Who's gonna protect us from that snitch Randall, those bratty Ashley's...?"

"I'm sure you'll be okay," Spinelli shrugged and didn't swing, but stared at the black top with stray chalk scratches drawn or rubbed into the pavement. "I just can't believe my parents didn't tell me."

"Don't sweat it, just call me before you leave, okay?"

"Okay. I'm sure it's a misunderstanding anyway. I'm sure my parents and I will talk about this."

That night, at the Spinelli house.

"What do you mean we've already talked about this!?" Spinelli gaped at her parents after talking with them about her day at school.

"Well, sure we have, pookie," Bob told her. "Don't you remember?"

"Um, no, I think I would remember us talking about this." Spinelli scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"We have, honey, we talked about it last week." Flo tried to jog her memory.

Spinelli looked at them, then thought back, slightly rolling her eyes in annoyance to this.

Flashback

Spinelli was in her bedroom, jamming to some heavy metal music. She was so engrossed by the music, she didn't seem to notice any of her surroundings. Downstairs, Bob and Flo were looking over some papers that Spinelli brought home from school for them to look at while she would do homework. They came across a foriegn exchange student flyer.

"Exchange students, those are always interesting." Bob remarked.

"Wouldn't it be nice if Ashley became an exchange student?" Flo added, smiling proudly.

"Why don't we ask her?"

"Honey? Honey doll!?"

"Yeeeeaaahh!" Spinelli was rocking out to the music and did an air guitar, though her parents mistook it for her answering them.

"How would you like to become a foreign exchange student?"

"AWESOME!" Spinelli still rocked out. "YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"

Bob and Flo smiled. It was settled, they should sign their daughter up for becoming a new transfer student. They filled out the permission slip. A while later, Spinelli was finishing some homework and Flo came in.

"Honey, you have to sign this for school." Flo handed her the paper.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, Mom." Spinelli took it without reading and signed her name on it, handing it back.

"Good night, sweetie, in a week, all your dreams are gonna come true." Flo hugged Spinelli close and kissed her on the cheek, then went out for the night.

Spinelli glanced at her mother and shrugged, unsure of what she meant by that. She then went to get some sleep.

End of Flashback

"Oh, yeah..." Spinelli sighed in defeat.

"Being a foriegn exchange student would be good for you, pookie," Bob encouraged his daughter to go for it anyway. "They say it's a learning experience."

"Yeah, a whole new sandbox." Flo added.

Spinelli sighed and slumped. This was going to be a miserable final week at Third Street School. However, before she knew it, it was time to go to the island. Her new adventures await on the Albonquetine Islands, but luckily for her, there was a girl on the island, who was from New York, who wasn't an islander. Hopefully the two would become friends and help each other out.

"So, you're leaving, huh?" TJ asked, flatly.

"Yeah," Spinelli sighed. "I'm really gonna miss you guys."

"Woe, woe is us, without Spinelli, it'll be nothing but endless rest, oh, woe!" Mikey cried.

"Gosh Spinelli, I don't know what we're gonna do without ya..." Gus frowned deeply.

"Don't worry about it, okay? You guys don't need me." Spinelli told them.

"See ya when we see ya..." Gretchen sighed unhappily.

Spinelli sighed sharply. She then heard her dad's car horn honk.

"Come on, sweetie, we gotta get you across the ocean before a volcano erupts or something!" Bob called.

Spinelli sighed again and looked at her gang. "See ya, guys..." she walked off to to the car and shut the door behind her.

The gang all watched her leave. The bell rang to summon them to class and they quickly went. They just hope that Spinelli would be alright without them and she would be alright without them. They all expected Gus to be the one to be away because he's moved so much and been to six different schools, but no. It was their very own Spinelli. Millions of thoughts and questions overwhelmed their brains. Would they see her again? Would she change? Would Spinelli's new friends be more savage than the kindergarteners of Third Street School or in China according to Diggers Sam and Dave? No one would know the answer until Spinelli would come back home.

Spinelli was now in a new part of the world. She was on the islands and only saw a few kids. Not as many as her friends or anyone in school, it looked lonely, but what could she expect from an island? She saw a girl with earrings and pigtails, highly assuming she was the New York girl since the other kids didn't wear shoes and had hoop rings, such as a nose ring on the boy and big ear ones on the girl.

"Um, hi, I'm Spinelli..." the new girl came while the kids stared at her.

The New York girl saw the islander kids weren't going for her, so she decided to greet her and make friends first. "Hi, I'm Mike," the girl spoke. "And this is my new island."

"It's my island!" the girl in green protested.

Mike glanced at her, annoyed. "This is Lu..."

"Princess Lu!" the girl once again protested.

Spinelli found this girl annoying and started to chase her.

"More like Princess Pain in the Butt if you ask me..." Mike murmured. Once Spinelli came back, Mike went back to introductions. " That's her turtle Lancelot, kind of a love-hate relationship. This almost naked kid is Og. Don't let the nose ring fool you, he's actually a pretty cool dude. And we are the only kids on this island."

Spinelli shrugged at it. "Cool..."

"Great, another city girl, I wonder what's gonna happen to my precious island?" Lu sighed, sounding mopey.

"She reminds me of four girls back home..." Spinelli growled.

"Tell me about it,... I just hate girls like that... At least this time's temporary." Mike whispered to her.

"So, your name's Mike? Funny, one of my friends back home is named Mikey."

"No offense, but what kind of name is Spinelli? Sounds like Italian food."

"It is Italian," the other girl told her. "My name's Ashley Spinelli, but don't you dare call me Ashley! I hate that name!"

"Yeah, well, don't call me Michelene, then."

"Right."

"Right."

And like that, Mike and Spinelli reached an agreement. The islanders then decided to get Spinelli settled into her new lifestyle for a while and turn in for the night to await adventures very soon.


	3. The Tube

It was a clear, endless blue sky, sunny day on the island, like most days on the island. Og was swinging in a tree, Mike and Spinelli were reading their comic books, Action Guy for Mike and Spinelli was joining her since her luggage was lost unlike Mike's and Mike allowed her to borrow her comic books, even if they weren't Senor Fusion, her favorite back home, and Lu was holding a hoop and teaching her pet turtle some new tricks. It was peaceful to be a kid on an island today. Especially for Spinelli who tried her best to adjust with the city girl, Mike, the quiet, inventor boy, Og, and the Princess Lu.

"Is she talking about us?" Spinelli asked, noticing the narrator.

Mike, Lu, and Og didn't notice the narrator and just went about their quiet morning together.

"I, the Princess Lu, command you JUMP!" Lu encouraged her turtle.

Lancelot was standing on a rock. He tried his best to hop through the hoop to impress her. Only, he fell right onto the ground with little to no avail.

"Come on, Lancelot, you can do it," Lu handed the hoop for her pet to try again. "Atta boy! Come on, Lancelot, good boy!"

Lancelot got back on the rock and tried again. He hopped over, but this time he was only half-way through the hoop with his belly caught onto it.

"That's not bad, just practice and you'll get it," Lu handed the hoop to him and went to the other girls of the island now. "Wanna see my turtle do a trick?"

Mike and Spinelli didn't answer, they kept looking at their comic books. Spinelli grew more curious of who this Action Guy was, she had never heard of him back home and decided to read with Mike. This was really exciting, even if it was about a fictional superhero.

"Hey!" Lu snapped, which now got their attention. "Do you wanna see Lancelot almost jump through a hoop?"

The poor turtle had landed on his back and had trouble getting back up.

Mike hummed as she continued to read, ignoring Lu.

"Man, this guy is hardcore..." Spinelli was captivated by the pictures with Action Guy saving the day.

"What's with the stupid book?" Lu scoffed at them for reading instead of paying attention to her.

"Not stupid." Mike glanced at her.

"So, what is it?" Lu asked.

"The greatest book ever written," Mike answered looking back into the book. "Next to Senor Fusion, of course. Action Guy..."

"One of the best heroes ever, even better than a professional wrestler with a weakling for a opponent in the ring!" Spinelli added, baring her fists with equal excitement.

"What's so great?" Lu continued to scoff and took the book from Mike's hands.

"Action Guy stopped a tornado from destroying the whole Albanian village," Mike explained while standing up. "He stopped an oil leak from a ship in the Antarctic Ocean. He once rescued a penguin and stopped villains a bunch, a bunch of times."

Lu snorted in disbelief about the tomboys raving about their heroes.

"Action Guy and Senor Fusion could take you down, Prissy Princess," Spinelli poked Lu in the nose. "You only wish you could be like them! If we were at my wrestling camp, I'd show you what's what!"

"Yeah, they're the bravest hero known to man." Mike added, flexing her arms to show the strength.

"No braver than my Great-Uncle Bernard," Lu shook her head. "He saved Og from falling out of a tree."

"Could too!" Spinelli and Mike defended.

"Then prove it to me, show me this villain stopping better than saving Og from falling out of a tree." Lu retorted, throwing the book by Lancelot.

"Look at that," Spinelli showed a comic panel. "Action Guy hit a wall with his head and doesn't say owch."

"Pictures in a book." Lu still refused to believe them and was very skeptic.

"The man of action is not stopped!" Mike proclaimed.

Lu swiped the book, still looking, even if she didn't seem interested. "It's just dumb words..."

"You want proof? We'll show ya proof!" Mike glared at the 'princess'. "You can have all the proof in the universe. Just tune in every night at 6:00 on your local station." Mike started to walk away with Spinelli.

"What's a station?" Lu asked.

"A television." Spinelli answered, helping Mike. She felt odd explaining television to someone, nearly forgetting she and Mike were on an island in the middle of nowhere.

"What's a television?" Lu queried, following them.

"Sheesh, come on..." Mike growled.

The three girls went to a section on the island where several of Mike's bags were. She had brought many things from home with her because she wasn't sure what to expect once she joined the exchange program herself. She had to be like a boy scout, prepared. Mike couldn't find a proper television, but she took out a cardboard box after endless searching.

"Close enough, Red." Spinelli remarked, shrugging.

"This better be good..." Lu mumbled, impatiently.

"Get ready for the thrill of a lifetime!" Mike told Lu, then walked with Spinelli to set up the box to introduce Lu to the world of television.

Spinelli decided to help Mike with Lu's problem as the self-proclaimed princess sat across from them while Mike set the box down like a television set. She then took out her Action Guy figurine and Spinelli stood by to help in any way that she could.

Mike opened the box flaps and hummed the Action Guy theme song she could sing in her sleep to thrill and excite Lu. "At first, the Man of Action is relaxing by side of his home, but the call for Action beams across the night sky!"

Spinelli then took out a leaf to represent the Action Guy signal and let the beaming sun gleam against it.

"This, the call of Action." Mike continued.

"It's just a leaf." Lu scoffed, folding her arms.

"The evil being has come back to life, in a new evil leader," Mike narrated as Spinelli took out a banana from the bunch to represent the bad guy of the story. "Banana Guy!"

"And that's a banana!" Lu found this whole thing to be just ridiculous.

"This disastrous evil-doer has captured the Sweet Flower Princess." Mike narrated as Spinelli found a flower and turned it upside down. She knew that if she mentioned the P word that it would get Lu's attention, no doubt.

"Princess?" Lu gasped, showing her undivided attention. "You didn't say anything about a princess!"

"Of course, the man of Action has fallen secretly in love with the Flower Princess," Mike made her figurine stand up.

"He can't just let her go in the dastardly clutches, not his one true love!" Spinelli added, not believing she just said girly words like that without cringing. She held back a laugh as Lu was practically eating this story up.

"Never! Who wants to lose a princess!?" Lu was standing up in suspense like a regular television viewer.

Spinelli and Mike kept their act up and Lu was in such suspense. Lancelot was however, captivated by Mike's lost book and Og was still calmly swinging in a tree like nothing was happening. Lancelot was so engrossed by the book he fell back and slid down the sandy hill and hit a rock which made him fly with the book and somehow fly with him. Lancelot hit the branch that Og's swing was from which made Lancelot fall and flatten the box with Og crushing on top of the poor turtle.

"Lancelot! What are you doing?" Lu came out of her trance, now remembering her surroundings.

Og looked at the girls and had a stoic face. "Sorry..."

The top of the palm tree slammed on top of all the kids. Lu popped her head out, still in suspense, even if the show was now over. "But what about the princess? She's still caught in the dastardly lair!"

"What we need is a real TV." Mike told her.

"What's a real TV?" Lu asked.

"Only the best invention in the last billion years." Spinelli explained, since she also wasn't an island girl and knew just about everything Mike did.

"Yeah," Mike continued the explanation. "A bunch of wires connected all jammed up to a giant screen, which has every kid in his own private world. That's all."

Og clearly looked intrigued in this invention from the city.

"What's it do?" Lu continued her million questions.

"Shows shows." Mike and Spinelli answered.

"Boring!" Lu growled.

"Never, you could watch it forever," Spinelli explained. "Cuz the people in it never tell you to do your homework, or eat vegetables, or anything that you don't wanna do, especially showing non-stop wrestling and the real violence on Friday nights."

"And best of all, TV is Action Guy's home." Mike finished.

Og looked puzzled and at the same time, deep in thought. He then took Mike's hand without a word.

The red-headed girl's eyes widened at the sudden gesture. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

Og took Mike's hand and went to his tiny workshop he had built on the island.

"Yep, he's gonna make one." Lu sounded excited, even if she sounded bored earlier.

"That kid's like a midget, quiet, Gretchen Grundler." Spinelli remarked, wondering how a seven-year old island boy was going to make them a television.

Mike and Og searched the island and gathered supplies. Spinelli decided to help, it beat hanging around Lu and Lancelot. They collected items such as wood, a box of glass bottles with some messages inside, coconut shells, fish bones, a hermit crab's shell, a barrel, and of course, what's island technology without bamboo? Mike questioned if this was all really going to make a TV, but Og was certain it would, after all, he is a child prodigy. Mike and Spinelli helped Og push everything in his shack and they stood outside waiting with Lu while Og would get to work.

Spinelli found a stray nail and showed everyone. "I wonder if this is important..."

"Aw, don't worry, that junk won't make a TV." Mike told her, not believing all the stuff Og collected.

After a failed attempt that nearly exploded on Og himself and the girls, he decided to do some more tweaking. Mike was still in disbelief and Og had removed the shack to show that he did indeed build a television.

"Behold, television..." Og introduced with a smile and he bowed as the girls clapped for him.

"Let's watch!" Lu beamed. "Maybe Action Guy or this wrestling thing is on!" She then took the remote Og built and clicked it on, but all they could see was static, but Lu was still wowed by the world of television.

"They'll never believe this back at St. Alban's." Mike remarked.

"Or Third Street School." Spinelli added, surprised that Og did that for them.

"Change the channel!" Mike demanded, not wanting to watch static.

Og tried to with the remote, but the picture just got worse. After a while, the kids just decided to go with the bad picture, even if to Lu and Og it looked amazing. A while later, Marjorie, Og's mother, passed by with a bottle on her head. Spinelli and Mike looked over to see her.

"For some reason, I can see Miss Grotke doing that." Spinelli remarked.

"You got a bottle of water on your head!" Mike pointed to the island woman.

"Oh, yes," Marjorie decided to join them. "What are you watching?"

"It's a television." Mike and Spinelli answered.

Even more later, Alfred, Og's father, came running by with his plunger gun and chasing a wombat. The animal had tricked him and joined the others on a log to watch the television. Alfred tried to take him down, but the wombat signaled him to not interrupt and watch the magic box.

"I say, what have we he'e?" Alfred put up his weaponry and joined the others.

"It's the greatest invention ever!" Lu beamed.

"Fascinating..." Alfred turned into a zombie like the others.

Much later, Wendell, Lu's father, came by examining his watch. "Come along, Lulu, my dearest. It's time for your-" he now noticed the new invention on the island. "What is that...?"

"Television." Alfred droned.

"Oh, how extraordinary!" Wendell joined them.

Finally, Old Queeks, the village elder came by. He reminded Spinelli a lot of Miss Finster if he were an old guy instead of an old lady and had nothing to do but to heal and advise the others than torture them with her sadistic school faculty ways. Even if Spinelli made friends with Miss Finster after spending a weekend with her while her parents went to a babysitter convention, Old Queeks just brought back what the old Finster was like for her. He also had hints of her grandfather.

"Make some room for your elders, sonny!" Queeks snapped and pushed Alfred with his cane, knocking the wombat out of their way.

The wombat hopped down and went to sit back down on the other side next to Alfred, instead of allowing the man to sit down with them.

"They didn't keep animals on the furniture in my day!" Queeks snapped. He saw everyone entranced by the television, but didn't see Spinelli, he glanced at her. "Why aren't you with the others, huh?"

"It's boring!" Spinelli sighed. "There's nothing even on, it's like they're all brainwashed!"

"That is unlike them," Queeks scratched his head. "Maybe we should get them all back to normal, eh?"

Spinelli scoffed at him. "I'd like to see you try..."

Queeks somehow played a tune on his cane like summoning a snake in stereotypical Indian culture, but that didn't work. It did get a snake over and it raised him to get a view of the TV and he got entranced now too. "Now, would you look at that?"

"Well, he's hopeless..." Spinelli murmured.

Og's remote only showed static and TV snow, but no actual shows. The islanders were in awe, but thankfully, Mike now finally woke up out of her state and joined Spinelli and keeping her sanity.

"Television is a complete waste of time!" Queeks zoned away from them as Marjorie's water spilled from them and stormed off to count his rocks.

"What happened?" Mike asked Spinelli.

"You kinda turned into a zombie," Spinelli explained, twirling her finger by her head to show a crazy gesture. "Though, it seems like everyone else still is..."

"Hey, you're right," Mike looked with her. "Guys, this is definitely not television."

"Could I have a drink of water, please?" Lu asked, still with her eyes glued to the screen.

Marjorie took the bottle off her head and handed it to the girl allowing her to drink.

Lu took the water and guzzled it down, feeling refreshed. She then handed the bottle to one of the exchange students. "Could you give me some more water?"

"Sure," Mike took the bottle and went to the island kitchen. "Anything to get away from here. Coming, Spinelli?"

"No doubt about it." Spinelli said and followed her.

After that, Mike and Spinelli were reduced to being servants for everyone else on the island. They seemed to had regret becoming exchange students as a learning experience to this thing and wanted to ditch the island and maybe go home. They didn't sign up for this. The kitchen was empty after Mike and Spinelli served everyone for two days and they hadn't moved from the television since then.

"Alright, Sister Mary Margaret, you said this exchange program would be a learning experience, well, what do we learn from this? I mean, what now?" Mike asked herself, feeling rejected and shunned by the others because of Og's invention.

"I say we give 'em a run for their money and destroy that thing." Spinelli suggested.

"But how?" Mike asked her.

The girls both then glanced and saw the Action Guy comic book tossed aside that night. That then gave them both an idea. Spinelli dressed like she did at wrestling camp while Mike dressed up like Action Guy. They were going to put an end to this television madness once and for all. Spinelli and Mike found the end of a mountain, swung on a vine and made a boulder roll down. Mike grabbed a hold of it and made it crash against the TV set and Spinelli body-slammed the remains of it which made it all explode and everyone came out of their madness mantra over television. Maybe a desert island would be better off without such a thing. In the end, everyone grew back to normal and Lu started to read more Action Guy books, even dressing her turtle up like the caped crusader himself.

"So, Spinelli, you like Action Guy?" Mike asked as they walked together the next morning.

"Yeah, he's not bad, but you really ought to read Senor Fusion, I'd let you borrow some comics if I could, my buddy TJ let me have some extra copies of some he had," Spinelli said. "This has been quite an adventure."

"Just you wait, it's a whole new sandbox around here."

"No doubt."


	4. Roller Madness

After the TV madness, Spinelli and Mike were hanging out in the kitchen with Marjorie as she was cooking eggs. Mike offered to help since she would help cook a lot back at home and Spinelli just sat in the corner, bored. Though Lu took over a dozen eggs and threw them onto the frying pan, thinking she wouldn't have to learn how to cook and made a mess everywhere, much to Marjorie's dismay.

"Perhaps you three should go outside and play..." Marjorie politely told them as she wanted them to leave, but didn't want to be nasty about it so she could cook in peace.

"But there's nothing to play with!" Mike retorted.

"Well, I'm sure you girls can think of something," Marjorie said with a friendly smile. "Play Coconuts! That's what I did when I was your age."

"What's Coconuts?" Mike and Spinelli asked.

Lu formed an evil smile since she knew about this game and thought of a way to get even with the new girls. She had hated them since they first came and 'intruded on her island'.

Later, Lu had Lancelot carry a satchel of flags with herself, Mike, and Spinelli standing, waiting to learn about the new game and a giant pile of fresh coconuts waiting to be played with.

"It's very simple, really," Lu educated them. "In ancient time, our people played with a lot of a games. And of course, the rules of the game are playing it well, and considered the height of the teacher. And I, the Princess Lu, shall go first," she went to her pet turtle. "Coconut please."

Lancelot handed her a coconut.

Lu took the fruit and bounced it in her hand a little as she concentrated. She then went to get a two different coconuts for Mike and Spinelli, making the pile and Lancelot fall flat on the sand. "Watch and learn," she instructed the new girls. She made a line in the sand with her foot and threw the coconut not too far. "That was my turn, and now, your turn." she told them the directions.

Mike threw her coconuts farther than Lu's and Spinelli's was just a bit higher than Mike's.

"Not bad, too bad Vince's not here, he'd be all over this." Spinelli stretched her arm from the throwing.

"So, Princess, how'd you say the game was played?" Mike teased for their coconuts going much further from Lu's.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Lu tutted. "Not so fast, we need an official measure." she then whistled for Lancelot to measure the distance of the coconut throwing for them. "Lancelot? Measure!"

The turtle did as told and walked over the line to count the paces between each of the coconuts. He took giant steps to count for Mike and Spinelli's coconuts while Lu counted out loud.

"Now, Mike, yours is seven meters and Spinelli, yours is ten," Lu answered, telling them. She then quickly counted as Lancelot went to her coconut and he took tiny steps to make it a lot more than theirs. That had to be cheating. "Mine's 60."

Lancelot took out a flag to cheer for Lu as she was the winner for this round.

"Yay, yay, I won, whoo-hoo!" Lu cheered for herself.

"As long as she doesn't say 'scandalous', I'm happy." Spinelli muttered to herself, rolling her eyes at Lu's cockiness.

"What kinda rules are those?" Mike asked, not impressed with the island girl's game.

"Island rules," Lu said, taking another coconut from Lancelot. "Wanna try again, or are you chicken?"

"Start cluckin', you're about to lay an egg." Mike challenged. "Playing, Spinelli?"

"Nah, I'll just watch." Spinelli shrugged and sat down, crossing her legs.

Both girls took their coconuts back and threw them. Mike threw further than Lu again, but Lancelot still made it seem like Lu won fair and square. Eventually, Og came over to join the girls.

"Huh, coconuts..." the boy observed.

"You wanna take my turn?" Spinelli offered, handing him the coconut she used in the earlier game.

Og hummed and took the coconut with ease. Mike and Lu threw their coconuts as Lancelot waved the checkered flag. Og took some of the wind like Gretchen would as an experiment and threw his coconut as well as the girls did. His coconut cracked Mike's and landed on top of Lu's. Mike gave a thumbs up as Og made a perfect score.

"Traitor!" Lu snarled, slamming the beg on Lancelot for rooting for Og and she stormed over to the said boy. "And you cheated! You always ruin everything! Come on, boys don't know how to play anything!"

"How'd you like to meet Vince LaSalle?" Spinelli challenged, folding her arms, standing up and tapping her booted foot.

"You know what's good?" Mike asked as the island girl walked off.

"Fried bananas?" Lu looked back, curious.

"No, even better."

"Better than fried bananas?"

"A game without rules!"

"No rules?"

"It's a weird kind of shoe, with a little wheel at the bottom and you can slide all over the place." Mike explained.

"Oh, I know what you're talking about, roller skates!" Spinelli beamed. "Man, I haven't used those in forever ever since I got my bike."

"When you live in the city, Spinelli, you can roller skate all the time!" Mike told her, smiling as Og went off to invent roller skates for the girls. "I glide on them and the sidewalk turns into ice and you're an Olympic star ice skater, looping, and swooping, and jumping to music. Just like a ballerina. Skates are the bomb!"

"If I had in-line skates, then I'd be the bomb." Lu looked down at her bare foot, wiggling her toes.

"It's not easy." Spinelli reminded her.

"It takes balance and coördination." Mike added, reminding the princess of the power of roller skates.

"I got balance, watch me!" Lu stood on top of a coconut. She then proved to have no balance and was wobbling on top, losing it, about to fall. She then landed right next to Lancelot as he hid in his shell, nervous for her. "You were supposed to hold the coconut!"

Mike and Spinelli glanced at Lu for her epic fail.

"Hey, I bet that Og kid could make us some, he seems to know how to make anything." Spinelli spoke up.

"Trust me, he can," Mike smiled at her friend. "One time before you showed up, he made me a car and we had a race. Sorry you had to miss that though."

"It's okay, let's get Og to make some skates."

However, before anyone could request skates from Og, he had already come over with some skates he made from island material. He was even wearing a pair and nearly slipping off-balance, but he did it just for them. He slipped in the sand and a pair of skates rolled up to Mike.

"This is awesome!" Spinelli beamed.

Mike took her new skates and hugged them, proud to know a boy like the native child prodigy. "Og, you're the bomb!"

"Uh-oh..." Lu murmured.

Spinelli and Mike were skating up a sandy hill with ease, having done it hundreds of times before. However, Lu and Og were having trouble. Lu was gripping onto Mike's hand so she wouldn't fall and Og was on all fours, trying to climb up with them.

"Okay, you guys, let's go." Mike held Lu and Og's hands as they made it to the top.

Lu looked very pale and scared. "Umm... Go ahead, I'll follow you!"

Og hummed, a little uneasy about this as well.

"Something tells me this won't be easy." Spinelli muttered.

Mike looked at them and decided to skate down like she had wanted to do for a long time. "Oh, rad!" she skated down, but her skates sunk in the sand, due to the lack of sidewalks on the island.

"You call that poetry?" Lu pointed down at Mike, putting her hands on her hips, snobbily. She then scoffed and kicked off her skates.

Spinelli looked at Mike, then at the island kids. "Hey guys, where's the sidewalks?"

"Sidewalks?" Lu asked. "What's a sidewalk?"

"Aw, this whomps!" Spinelli grunted, now knowing they wouldn't be able to skate after all.

"Yeah, we need a sidewalk." Mike agreed with Spinelli.

"Oh, sure, something else we need. What's a sidewalk anyway?" Lu asked, tired of hearing whatever this thing was that the non-island girls were going on about.

"An endless rivet of concrete, up and over, in and around, trees and hills, block after block after block..." Mike explained, indulging in her nostalgic memories of living in the city.

Lu looked shocked, though she didn't say anything. Og looked deep in thought, wondering how he was going to make that for Mike and Spinelli. He then went away after he finally had his brain hatch an idea on how to do it.

"He's gonna make one..." Lu muttered.

A while later, Mike and Spinelli were waiting anxiously for the sidewalk to be built. They were sharing some stories from back home since Lu didn't seem interested and only wanted them to be off the island.

"Your friend TJ sounds like he should be working for the FBI, Spinelli." Mike laughed a bit after another story during the recess period of Third Street School.

"Tell me about it, I don't know how he does it, but he manages to come up with bigger plans than Gretchen would and she's the smart girl." Spinelli laughed, finishing the story and smiling at Mike brightly. She then frowned and looked away distantly. "I wonder how they're doing while I'm gone..."

"I'm sure they miss you a lot, I really miss my friends Max and Melissa, I promised I'd write to them everyday, but there isn't a post office or anything here I can mail them to and I don't think St. Albans takes bottle messages." Mike sounded sad too, feeling homesick a bit. Fortunately for them they had Og to make anything they missed about the United States.

Og had made sidewalks all over the island, including on some rocks. He then summoned them over with their skates as he put in the final few tiles for them to skate on. Lu looked puzzled as she had Lancelot with her.

"You are one, incredible, weird kid!" Mike gave the island boy a thumbs up.

Og finished and clapped his working gloves together. Mike and Spinelli smiled and went skating like in the good old days they separately shared in different homes, but they enjoyed the scenery as they skated happily. Lu still didn't want to skate and stormed off to have her own fun away from the new girls on the island. Og skated by other members of the island and put skates on them such as Marjorie, Lu, Alfred, Old Queeks, and even a giant elephant. Mike and Spinelli skated past Lu.

"Come on, Lu, it's fun!" Mike encouraged her.

"Yeah, don't be such a knot in Finster's undies." Spinelli added.

Lu was still uninterested. "No thank you, it's too hot... Princesses don't sweat!"

"Just try it, everybody else is." Spinelli urged as Lancelot was sniffing her new shoes with wheels. She had to admit, Lu was a pain, but at least there weren't four of her with the same name.

Lu wiggled her bare feet, glaring at them. She then lifted one of her feet and cried in false dismay. "Aw, I got a splinter in my toe!"

"Too bad..." Mike laughed, rolling away with Spinelli.

Many of the islanders and the animals of the island were skating around Lu and Lancelot. They were the only ones skating, even if Lancelot wanted to actually skate. Lu actually looked a little sad.

"Ready to roll, Princess I-Don't-Wanna-Skate?" Mike asked. At least she was being polite about it.

"Yeah, come on, Lu, you shouldn't be here by yourself." Spinelli added.

"Those are for animals," Lu pointed to Og with a pig, goat, and porcupine, even a snake. "I am not an animal! Perhaps if I had real skates, such as yours..."

"No problem," Mike offered her skates to the poor princess.

Everyone insisted on Lu joining on the fun. Including Old Queeks who was in an interestingly good mood today.

"Alright, if you just turn your backs!" Lu told everyone with a rather nasty face.

They all did as told. Lu was about to fasten on the skates, then saw she was missing her pet turtle. "LANCELOT!"

The pet turtle was wearing the skates and stumbling down the homemade sidewalks. He was knocking down some trees along the way. Lancelot had damaged everything as Lu was wandering the island looking for him. Spinelli and Mike decided to help and they saw Lancelot land right in the ground, crushing Lu's toe.

"Yowch! That looks painful!" Spinelli winced for Lu.

"Yeah..." Mike bit her lip.

Lu held her foot and cried in pain.

"Come on, we better get Marjorie." Mike told Spinelli and they rushed off to get Lu to the infirmary right away.

Lancelot was in a full-body cast and Lu had a giant cast on her bad toe.

"If it hadn't been for that stupid turtle, I would've joined you," Lu was talking with Mike and Spinelli dressed as a doctor and nurse. "The sun was blowing, there was this nice shade, I had this splinter, and it really and it looked, how should I say? Fun!"

Mike and Spinelli hushed her. Lancelot was trying to get some rest after the damage he took earlier. Lu tried to wake Lancelot up, but the girls told her to keep it down and they left Lu to heal up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, in case you don't know, the car that Mike mentioned is a call-back to the What a Cartoon! pilot of Mike, Lu & Og that I finally got to see not too long ago (only the episode was in Spanish) Crash Lancelot. At least I got to see it, it's been driving me crazy that I hadn't been able to find it anywhere and I really wanted to watch it. Oh, well, Read & Review, everyone, coming up next should be if I'm right Sultans of Swat and Three for Tea.


	5. Sultans of Swat

"Hey Mike, where's Og?" Spinelli asked, coming to her.

Mike turned to her. "Oh, he's with some animals meeting... I never understood why he has to have a 'Philosophical Meeting' with those animals. It's not like they can talk or anything."

Spinelli shrugged. "Stranger things have happened. My friend Gretchen talks to her pocket computer named Galileo, he's a frog, I think."

"I think it's kinda cool you had a big group of friends back where you came from, I only had Max and Melissa, we were a group of rejects."

"Better than no one and a snitch. Snitches get stitches, I always say."

"So, what're you up to today?"

"I dunno, I'm just kinda bored... What should we do today? I could go for a mean game of kickball right about now." Spinelli stretched her kicking leg, even if she wasn't as good as Vince on the black top with that recess game.

"It's days like this that remind me of baseball back home." Mike smiled. "Whether watching a game or playing in the vacant lot with the others."

"Hey, why don't we get your old bat and ball out and go for a game?" Spinelli suggested.

"Great idea! Beats standin' around here."

Spinelli and Mike walked across the endless sandy streets, it was easy to get lost. Mike was throwing her old ball up in the air a few times and carrying her bat over her shoulder. Mike and Spinelli found Og with his animal friends. The pig seemed startled to see them and landed herself into the mud to avoid trouble. The porcupine got on all fours and started sniffing the flower grown in the middle of the sand. The goat hid the bell in his fur coat and got down on his feet munching on some fresh grass. Og stood there like nothing was happening.

"Hey Og, you like poetry? You should try baseball." Mike kept catching the ball.

"Baseball?" Og wondered.

"Only the greatest thing ever," Mike explained. "A thrill ride, pop fly, an endless field of sport. Hot dogs in the field with a guy sitting behind you yelling for hours behind with a styrofoam finger you can get for a dollar at a garage sale. It's one whole Philosophical about all of mankind's magic mountain."

"What?" Og sounded lost by that description.

"Give it a try, kid," Spinelli tossed the ball to the island boy. "Sheesh, you sound like Gus Griswold whenever something big is happening on the playground."

"A bat swung and a ball headed out of the park, baby!" Mike cheered, swinging her bat, reliving sports memories.

"You need a ball constructed out of a circle?" Og asked, puzzled as he looked at the ball Spinelli gave him.

"Yeah, kinda." Spinelli shrugged.

Og hummed as the wheels in his head began turning. "I don't get it..." he was very curious of this sport before he would start any inventions for the day.

"Come on, Og boy," Mike took his hand. "You can't go on living like this."

The pig, goat, and porcupine watched Mike and Spinelli leave with Og. Later on, Mike and Spinelli got the island residents to meet in the center of the island where they had made a baseball diamond.

"Alright, guys, listen up," Spinelli spoke up for the island meeting and Mike showed a brief slideshow of baseball players to show how its done. "This is Buddy Dashman, one of the best pitcher, hitter, catcher there ever was. But no one lived to watch him than a better fan than Mike."

"Got it?" Mike prompted them all.

Alfred looked puzzled, Wendell was trying to eat the ball, and Lu looked very unimpressed, as usual.

"I don't see why we just can't play Coconuts!" Lu snarled.

"Splendid game." Alfred agreed.

"Can one eat the ball when one is finished?" Wendell asked.

Marjorie seemed to have gotten the hang of the game as she practiced swinging with Mike's bat.

"Oh, I don't like it!" Lu wrinkled her nose at the ball while Alfred bounced his and Wendell juggled his.

"Oh, you can't do this with a coconut." Marjorie smiled, swinging the bat on her hand.

Mike and Spinelli looked wide-eyed. They hadn't wanted this to happen. The islanders then started to balance and have fun with the balls in other ways than playing the proper way they were supposed to.

"I say, how am I doing?" Alfred asked.

"No worse than anyone else." Spinelli muttered.

"And that's surprising." Mike added.

"Excuse me, Miss Baseball people?" Lu alerted them as Lancelot was trying to escape her. "But, how do I win?"

"First thing that ever goes on in a baseball game is to sing the National Anthem." Spinelli told her.

Mike cleared her throat and started to sing the National Anthem. "Oh, say can you see-"

"That's NOT the National Anthem!" Lu snapped, making her stop.

"It's not?" Mike and Spinelli asked.

"No." Marjorie told them gently.

"Then, what is?" Spinelli asked.

The islanders got together and started to sing their National Anthem. It was actually kind of catchy and loud compared to what Mike and Spinelli were used to. They had mentioned their 'good ship Betty Anne'. Spinelli remembered that Marjorie told her that the islanders' ancestors were shipwrecked by pirates on the good ship Betty Anne and Joshua Wendell Albonquetine had landed and made the island what it is today. The islanders finished and congratulated each other.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Mike made them silence so they could play the game. "We get it..."

"How do I win?" Lu repeated her question from earlier slowly.

"It's not the winnin' or the losin', it's the playin'," Spinelli told her and folded her arms. "Though, I'm gonna cream you, Princess."

"You know that." Mike added.

"Sure it is..." Lu raised an eyebrow, though both girls knew she was just interested in winning. "How do I win?"

"Here, Og." Spinelli tossed him the bat. "Now, we decide who gets to go first."

Og grabbed the bat first, then Mike grabbed it. Spinelli then grabbed it as the other islands got the idea and rushed over to touch the bat to see who would go first. Lu laughed as her hand was higher for now, but Alfred's hand beat her.

"I don't think there's room..." Wendell sounded unsure.

"Of course there's room," Marjorie told him as she came to have her turn. She put her hand on the very top.

"Marjorie goes first," Mike said, trying to get Lu off since the younger girl was on her shoulders. "Come on."

Spinelli came with Mike and it would be time to play the very first baseball game on the island. Lu wanted to have a go, but Marjorie and Wendell went to where the tomboys were as the game would start. Wendell was a nervous wreck as Marjorie offered him the bat and she grew impatient with him. Finally, Lu came over with a homemade baseball cap as she came up to bat.

"Easy out!" Spinelli called as she had a glove and was on one of the bases.

"Don't worry, I'll pitch easy." Mike told Lu as she threw the ball in her hand and glove back.

Lu went up to bat, Alfred was the umpire for now. Lu looked a little nervous, because she was quiet and unsure about this game. Mike threw the ball, but Lu missed and it went between Alfred's legs.

"Look, it's not hard," Mike coached Lu. "I throw the ball, you swing the bat and hit the ball, okay?"

"Yeah..." Lu mumbled. "Okay..."

Alfred grabbed the ball and threw it back to Mike to try this again.

"And don't worry about looking dumb, it's only a game." Mike continued.

"She'll look dumb once it's my turn and I get a ball out of the park!" Spinelli smirked, punching her glove, ready to strike Lu out.

Mike threw the ball pretty high. She thought if she did, Lu would have an easier chance to hit the ball. However, it hit the ground and Alfred caught it again.

"Did I win yet?" Lu asked, brightening up a little.

"Princess, you can't hit the ball if you don't swing the bat." Mike came to the younger girl to give better motivation.

"Yeah, okay." Lu seemed to understand now. This was her last shot, she had two strikes already. "I get it."

"Mike, face it, she's gonna strike out." Spinelli told her city friend.

"Spin, just give her a chance, it's her and everyone else's first game." Mike told her, playing fair.

Mike pitched the ball. Lu technically hit it so she dropped the bat and started zipping all around the bases at warped speed. Lu managed to run all around the bases as everyone threw the ball to each other to get Lu out, but she actually did it. She made it to home plate.

"Yay, I won!" Lu beamed. "I won! I won!"

"Okay, rotate, everybody move up one." Mike instructed.

"Whatya mean rotate!?" Lu snapped. "The game's over!"

"Not yet, Princess," Spinelli glanced at her. "You got a lot to learn. Now, you go and try to catch the ball."

"What kind of sick game is this, anyway?" Lu rolled her eyes, doing as told. "Any REAL game knows when you win or lose!"

The animals cheered from the sidelines. The pig somehow found popcorn and began serving the goat and porcupine. After a while, Mike served as umpire while Alfred batted. Og pitched the ball and Alfred hit it.

"Run!" Mike and Spinelli told the island hunter.

Alfred smiled at them. "To whe'e?" he wondered.

"Yay, I got it, I got it!" Lu cheered as she had the ball in her gloved hand. "I won again!"

"Good show!" Alfred cheered for her.

"Jolly good!" Marjorie added.

"You're buffing my buttons, Poochy-kins!" Wendell beamed at Lu.

"And I thought my dad was embarrassing..." Spinelli muttered to herself.

"What was that!" Mike got paranoid that the game was being played right, but not the way she had expected. Her dominant sportsmanship was starting to act up with her New York rage. "You gave it away!"

"I won the ga-ame! I won the ga-ame!" Lu danced, still with the ball in hand.

"Rotate!" Mike called, then looked down at Og. "I can't believe it's getting competitive. I mean, it's only a game, but you could at least try."

"I won the game! I won the game!" Lu continued to praise herself.

Mike sharply exhaled.

Spinelli glared at Lu for Mike. "And stop with the winning already!"

"Testy, testy," Lu smirked devilishly. "Sore losers!"

"Don't listen to her, Mike, just play, okay?" Spinelli gave a gentle pat on Mike's back and went to her position for this game.

Og went to Wendell to give him a pep talk. Wendell was still very negative about this ball game and very nervous of what will happen once he starts pitching to Mike. Og talked with Wendell in private, then went back to Mike to play the next round of the game. Mike was ready to bat and got really competitive. It was starting to look ugly on her. Wendell threw a very curvy curve ball which made Mike miss and the ball landed right in Og's glove.

"Whoa..." Spinelli had never seen a ball served that way before.

"Strike one." Og called, very quietly, though everyone was able to hear it.

Lu let out a big whoop.

Mike looked agape, then seethed at everyone once Og threw the ball back. Wendell was surprised at his hidden talent and waited for Mike to get ready to hit the ball maybe this time.

"Bottom of the nineth, Mavinsky at bat, can she do it?" Spinelli narrated like a sports caster.

"Hey, batta batta! Hey batta batta!" Lu taunted.

Mike got her bat ready and blocked out everyone so she can concentrate on her game. Wendell pitched. The ball flew from his hand, grazed in the grass and came back up into the surface and Og picked up the ball as Mike hit the bat on the base instead.

"Strike two." Og told everyone.

"How can you call that a strike!?" Mike glared at him. "That was a ball!"

"Mike, you tried to swing it." Spinelli reminded her.

Mike glared at her. "Shush, you!" she then looked back at Og. "Out of the park! Call off the play!" she greeted her teeth.

"Mike!" Spinelli rushed over and held her back from startling poor Og.

"Lemme at 'em! Lemme at 'em!" Mike wriggled in her grip.

"Too bad you swung, you're supposed to swing the bat and hit the ball!" Lu called, tauntingly.

Mike growled. She really had enough of this. She swung the bat to Og as he walked off, but she missed him and spun herself around in a dizzy circle. Spinelli was trying to calm Mike down, but it was no use. Mike was just as aggravated as King Bob forced to serve during lunch detention with no recess. Og went to talk with Wendell some more and he went back to his place while Wendell would pitch one more time before Mike would probably strike out. The ball was coming and it seemed to had been floating like in anti-gravity.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Mike glared at Og. "Patronizing me!? You think I can't hit that ball!?"

"Mike, heads up!" Spinelli called as the ball drew closer toward Mike and Og.

Og tried to warn her by pointing up. Mike finally got the message and started to run around the bases, staring up at the sky to make sure no one would catch the ball, but it was going straight up and not toward anyone to catch. Mike ran to the base and slid to home plate, but an elephant had caught it before she got there. The elephant then ate the ball as Og was blown back to the center of the diamond due to Mike's epic sliding.

"Hey, no animals on the field!" Spinelli retorted.

"Yay, she's out, she's lost, send her back to the miners!" Lu boasted.

Mike sat up with a slight headache. "OUT!?"

"The ball was misplaced during your running, or whatever, Island Rule, you get another turn." Og told her gently.

"You're not giving me an out? That elephant didn't catch the ball!" Mike threw her hat off. "He ate it!"

"Hey, it's only a game." Og darted his eyes at the city girl.

"Only a game? Only a game!?" Mike hissed. "Baseball is not ONLY A GAME! Baseball is the game! I'll show you only a game!" she went back at bat. "This one's going out of the park, baby!"

Spinelli rolled her eyes, sighing. "Is this what I was like back home? Maybe I was too rough on the third, second and first graders on the playground..."

Og's animal friends got in the play field. Mike hit the ball aggressively and started running. She butted heads with the goat, she tripped over the pig, and she tried to avoid the porcupine, but he had his spikes bared and he was all over the base.

"What is this?" Mike scoffed. "Island Rules?"

Og shrugged and just threw the ball over his shoulder.

"Hey, it's my ball!" Lu dove over and tried to catch the ball. She then wound up with the porcupine in her lap and covered in quills. "It's only a game and I won! Oww..."

"You know, I think I'll go back to New York," Mike came over to Lu as she plucked quills out of herself. "There's extra air, and too many people, and baseball... Well, it's baseball..."

"You should transfer to Third Street." Spinelli suggested, feeling glad that Mike now finally calmed down.

This baseball thing was just too much for the native islanders.


	6. Four for Tea

It was a clear, endless sky like most days on the island. Spinelli and Mike were inside with Marjorie as she was writing another chapter in the island's history book she had been focused on for years. Mike and Spinelli were bored as they waited for her to finish.

"Hey, Spinelli, wanna see something cool?" Mike asked, in a hushed tone so Marjorie wouldn't lose track in her writing.

"Okay." Spinelli smiled.

"Hold that chair."

"Okay."

Mike went to a special bell jar and removed it to take out the teacup inside. Spinelli did as told and held the chair as Mike balanced the teacup to keep the two of them entertained.

"Are you done yet?" Mike asked, balancing the cup on her head, unbeknownst to Marjorie.

"Almost, dear," Marjorie told her, flipping to a fresh new page to continue her writing.

"I could use some help with my forearm." Mike said, now balancing on the chair with the cup on her feet while Spinelli held the chair.

Marjorie turned in surprise and sudden anger with the two tomboys. "Stop!"

"What?" both girls asked.

"Michelene Mavinsky and Ashley Funicello Spinelli, I insist you put that cup down right away!" Marjorie scolded them.

"Okay, okay, keep your skirt on." Spinelli sounded irritated and put the chair back in place.

Mike hopped down and caught the cup in her hand. "And the name is Mike and Spinelli!"

"Goodness gracious, children, be careful!" Marjorie sounded overwhelmed.

"Don't bug out, Marjorie, it's only a cup." Spinelli said as Mike kept the cup.

"That particular cup was on the Good Ship Betty Anne," Marjorie educated them. "It belonged to none other than the honorable Wendell Joshua Albonquetine."

"Lu's father?" Mike and Spinelli asked.

"Lu's father's father's father's father's father," Marjorie corrected. "And it's one of the island's best prizes."

"Oh..." Mike and Spinelli really appreciated the cup's value now.

"Now, please put it back in the glass, over the cupboard over there, dear." Marjorie told Mike, since she was the one holding the prized possession of the island.

"Cool!" Mike beamed and went to put it back as told.

"A cup filled with history." Spinelli helped Mike put the cup back.

"Would either of you like some tea?" Marjorie offered.

Spinelli stuck her tongue out, holding her stomach as she sounded sick about drinking tea.

"Hate the stuff," Mike answered. "But, I can't resist a good old hot chocolate."

"Hey, look!" Spinelli pointed.

Both girls looked out the window and saw Og walking past the hut, looking deep in thought.

"Og, could you invent a hot chocolate shop?" Spinelli asked, as the boy pondered, going down the walkway.

"What's doing?" Mike wondered why he wasn't paying attention to anything around him.

Og didn't answer and kept walking past them, never acknowledging their presence.

"Sounds intriguing..." Mike said, flatly.

"What a beautiful day on my island!" Lu came, walking with Lancelot. "And I, Princess Lu, shall wallow away the hours basking away in it's glory!"

Spinelli smiled at Lancelot and picked him up. Lancelot seemed happy to be with Mike and Spinelli instead of Lu. Mike even gave the turtle a light kiss on the cheek and cuddled with him like he were a puppy.

"Care to join me?" Lu asked, wanting to be fanned like a royal since the girls were around. "The royal personage would enjoy some company! Perhaps, someone to fan and someone to feed me grapes."

"Gee, sounds real tempting," Mike said sarcastically as Lancelot clung to her. "But, uhh... No."

"Fan yourself, butt head!" Spinelli snapped.

"Then DROP the turtle!" Lu demanded.

"Sorry, boy." Spinelli scratched Lancelot's belly and put him on the ground.

Lancelot wanted to stay with them, but Lu hooked on his leash and dragged him off across the island.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Spinelli asked, sounding bored.

"I dunno, there's not much to do here, isn't there?" Mike heaved a sharp sigh.

Alfred and Wendell went inside the hut to have tea with Marjorie.

"I wish Kelso's was here..." Spinelli sighed.

"What's Kelso's?" Mike asked.

"This awesome place, there's this guy Kelso who has about anything a kid could ever want. These awesome key chains, some Ajimbo game pieces, Monstickers, and Alien Stamps all the way from Japan."

"That place sounds amazing, my friend Max's uncle owns an arcade. Usually when he comes over, I save all possibly quarters I find in the couch, on the school bus, or baked into the mystery meatloaf so when he comes over, I'll be the richest kid in the arcade."

"Tender..." Spinelli smirked.

"Scandalous." Mike added, smirking.

"Don't say that." Spinelli frowned instantly, glancing at her, but not in a mean way, just disappointed Mike had used that word.

"Oh, sorry."

Suddenly a scream from Marjorie was heard. Mike and Spinelli looked at the hut in alarm and worry. Wendell rushed outside and raised the island flag.

"What's going on?" Spinelli wondered.

Mike saw the flag and looked at her. "Island Meeting, we gotta go." Mike then rushed.

Spinelli followed her and went to what is technically the town corner.

The islanders were all together now. They all chattered amongst each other, wondering what the trouble was. However, Alfred and Marjorie had already known. They waited for Wendell to get his things organized and meet back with them. They couldn't start without him, he was the island governor after all.

"People, people!" Wendell called, finally coming to organize them all. "Settle, settle. Thank you, thank you so much. As governor of our island, to each and every one of you, including, father to one."

Lu smiled boastfully and curtseyed in front of everyone while Lancelot took a bow.

"Thank you," Wendell continued. "It is with some difficulty with some moral amount of being-"

"Get on with it!" Queeks snapped.

"I must inform you, someone among us has stolen the cup!" Wendell finished.

Everyone gasped in shock and worry. Spinelli didn't look too concerned though. Lu glanced at her, seeing how bored she was and smirked as she hatched an idea.

"One of us?" Alfred questioned.

"Who?" Marjorie wondered.

"I say we do some questioning right away for our stolen property!" Queeks added.

"It's only a teacup..." Wendell didn't sound too concerned about his family's possession.

"Only a teacup? Only a teacup?" Queeks glared at him. "That teacup belonged to your great-great grandfather!"

"We all know the cup's history..." Wendell folded his arms at him.

"Took it to save your family," Queeks started accusing the governor. "Stole it himself, he did!"

"What!? How could you say such a thing!?"

Queeks hummed a bit and did a native, ritual dance as he slowly came to Wendell's post. Everyone looked at him in concern while the kids merely glanced at him. No one seemed to notice that Og was missing.

"I know who stole it, Daddy!" Lu came to the steps. "I know, I know, I know!"

The other islanders looked at her, waiting anxiously for her answer.

"It was her!" Lu pointed accusingly to Spinelli.

"Me?" Spinelli asked in defense.

"Spinelli?" Mike added.

"Unless there's another double black ponytail kid in a boy's jacket with combat boots and a ski cap named Spinelli around here!" Lu sneered at the tougher tomboy.

"I didn't do it!" Spinelli said in defense. "I don't even like tea!"

"She was with me!" Mike added.

"Exactly!" Lu grinned evilly. "Mike's an accomplice in this hiest, and that's proof enough for me!"

The others were shocked and were buying Lu's story.

"You're only accusing me because I wouldn't be your personal fan boy!" Spinelli snorted at Lu.

"Are not, theif!" Lu argued.

"Are too, liar!"

"Tea hater!"

"Pain in the pajamas!"

"Now, Lu," Marjorie came over. "Did you actually see Mike or Spinelli take the cup?"

"No, but that doesn't mean they didn't do it." Lu explained her accusatory. "Who else would take our cup?"

"Look, Princess Pouty, I don't know who did it, and you don't know who stole it, but I can tell you one thing, it wasn't me or Spinelli." Mike clarified.

"Says you!" Lu laughed, hoping this would get them kicked off the island for good.

"Says my fist and we'll prove it!" Spinelli bared her fist, shaking it at Lu and letting her other hand cup it, growling.

"Ha! How?" Lu taunted.

"By investigating," Mike answered, growing determined. "I've seen those cop shows and how it works. Before this day is over, I'll know who stole that cup or our names aren't Mike Mavinsky and Spinelli."

"Their real names are Michelene and Ashley." Lu whispered, teasingly to Lancelot.

"Quiet!" Mike hissed.

"Yes, well, Mike, Spinelli, just who do you suspect?" Marjorie asked.

Mike and Spinelli looked at the islanders all around them.

"Everyone." Mike answered like a real detective.

Mike and Spinelli walked along and the meeting ended.

"You know, we could suspect that 'princess' and get her in a lot of trouble." Spinelli suggested as they walked along.

"Yes, we could," Mike told her, handing her a notepad and pencil. "But that's not professional. Everyone is a suspect. I know you didn't do it and you know I didn't do it."

Spinelli sighed. "Okay, okay..."

The two kept walking and made it along some bushes. Alfred was chasing the wombat like he usually does. Alfred had cornered the wombat and they decided to discuss things over a cup of tea. Mike and Spinelli took note of that.

"Number One suspect, cup of tea." Mike whispered to Spinelli.

The two kept sneaking around the island, unknowing that Lu had been spying on them. Their next stop was at Old Queek's. Spinelli tried to keep from falling as there were hundreds and hundreds of steps to his hideout. The two snuck about and followed to where they could hear the loud snoring coming from. Spinelli accidentally tripped over a couple of skull topped staffs and a mask fell on Mike.

Both girls held in screams of nervousness and Mike used her flashlight to spot the mask and they saw Old Queeks in his hammock, still asleep and unaware of them spying. Queeks had a treasure chest in his hammock and clutched it as he snored and hummed a familiar tune.

"Number Two suspect, sleeping soundly with dreams of Tea for Two." Mike whispered.

Spinelli nodded and wrote that down. The girls both then snuck out into the sunlight and made it out without being seen or noticed. Mike came behind Og and grabbed his shoulder, making him smile at her and Spinelli as he was with his Philosophical Group of the pig, goat, and porcupine.

"Hello..." Og greeted.

"What's this, a tea party?" Spinelli glanced at him, suspiciously.

"No." Og answered, simply.

"Animal tea party?" Mike asked, glancing at the animals suspiciously.

"No, we're talking." Og explained.

"The animals talk?" Mike asked, dubious of that answer.

"Mm-hmm..." Og nodded.

"Come on, give it up, we're all over your game," Mike sat down, crossing her legs on a rock. "You can't hide with a bunch of barnyard beasts."

Og told them a scientific name for animals. "We have discussions over philosophy with life and death and limbo."

"Limbo?" Spinelli and Mike questioned.

"Limbo." Og said simply.

"Well, I don't know about limbo, but you can't talk to a bunch of animals, cuz animals don't talk!" Mike argued.

Og hummed and gave a shrug.

Mike and Spinelli took their leave.

"That kid is really weird." Spinelli spoke up.

Mike and Spinelli came back to the main part of the island. They came across Marjorie as she did some cooking and hummed a song to herself.

"Oh, I'd do anything for a nice cup of tea..." Marjorie said to herself as she stirred her food.

"Do anything for a cup." Mike told Spinelli.

Spinelli nodded and underline 'anything' while sitting on a turned over basket. The two walked over and left behind the gate.

Lu watched them leave and called for Lancelot to continue following Mike and Spinelli. "Come on Lancelot, we'll catch Spinelli and say we solved the crime!" Lu beamed. "We're so close to that cup I can taste the tea!"

Unknowing to Lu and Lancelot, as soon as they rushed out to gate, Mike and Spinelli had been hidden behind there. The island girl and turtle hadn't seen them, so they went about and kept spying on the tomboys.

"So close to tasting the crime..." Mike remarked.

Spinelli nodded and took note of it as instructed.

Wendell was in the middle of the island looking lost in despair and sheer sadness. He took out his clock as it was nearly noon. "Oh, where is it? It's time for afternoon tea and still no cup..." he looked under a rock and around the tropical plants with little to no luck. "I might as well be remembered as 'Wendell, the Tea-less'. Oh, what a bad day this is! My Lulu is doomed! I must find that tea!"

Mike and Spinelli watched him and took note of his paranoid behavior. It was nearly night on the island. The sun was setting and the day was almost up. As told, Mike and Spinelli met the islanders back and they would show their gathered evidence to prove Spinelli's innocence once and for all.

"Excuse me, have you found out who took the cup?" Marjorie asked Mike and Spinelli.

"Alfred offered a cup of tea to a wombat," Spinelli explained, not exactly accusing him, but putting him on the spot. "Our own Old Queeks was off 'working' and humming a wistful tune of 'Tea for Two'! Marjorie mentioned she'd do anything for a cup of tea! We also saw Og having a tea party with a bunch of animals... and Wendell was worried of becoming a tea-less brat!"

"Ah, I knew it was him!" Queeks glanced at Wendell.

"Are you sure your observations are correct?" Marjorie asked. "I'm sure you'd truly think I wouldn't do anything for a cup!"

"Nor would I." Alfred added.

The islanders started to argue around each other as they were all accused.

"Quiet!" Mike hissed, making them all settle down. "There's only one person we didn't see. A person we still don't see. A person who's not here. That person therefore is the perp."

The islanders were now wondering who wasn't with them. Their questions were answered once Lu came out the front door and saw them. She was looking innocent and cheeky as ever.

"Good morrow, loyal subjects, how goes, there for art?" Lu greeted in a Shakespearean fashion.

"It was LU!" Spinelli pointed to her.

Lu looked at her, wide-eyed and blamed.

"My Lulu!?" Wendell couldn't believe it.

"Oh, my heavens!" Marjorie gasped.

"Spoiled brat." Queeks glared.

"She certainly looks a bit guilty?" Alfred observed.

"Me? I couldn't! I wouldn't! Sure, I might have, but I didn't!" Lu cried in defense as everyone gathered at her. "It wasn't me! Promise!"

"If this were the playground I'd either punish you to a swirlie or the dodge-ball wall!" Spinelli growled, grabbing Lu. "How dare you blame ME for your dirty work, Princess Creme Puff!"

"It wasn't me, promise!" Lu insisted.

Suddenly, out of nowhere Og came. He had come with Lancelot and Og had the cup in his hands the whole time. "Sorry, I borrowed the cup for my Philosophical Meeting. I didn't mean to have you worried."

Marjorie swiped the cup from her son's hands in admiration. "Oh, thank goodness, it's back!"

"I knew I didn't take it!" Queeks laughed.

"I'm just so glad to have it back." Wendell gushed.

"Why don't we celebrate with a nice spot of tea?" Marjorie suggested.

Everyone agreed on that one. Except of course for Mike and Spinelli. They decided to come along anyway and they all left Lu to have some tea while she would stay behind. She just simply couldn't believe that everyone sided with Mike and Spinelli in suspecting her for taking the cup. Eventually Lu got bored and followed everyone to some celebratory victory tea.


	7. Losing Lancelot

"Man, this whomps! I'm so bored!" Spinelli kicked some sand around and folded her arms. "There's nothing to do around here! No kickball, no dodgeball, no nothing! I'm sick of this place, I wanna go home!"

Mike put a hand on the tough girl's shoulder. "Hey, Spinelli, you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay! I'm bored out of my mind and I can't do anything around here! I never thought I'd say this, but I wanna go back to Third Street School!"

"Aaahhh... Sounds like someone's a little home and school sick."

"No, I'm not, Mike, I'm just bored and nothing can make me feel better!"

"This happens to me all the time," Mike took her hand and walked with her across the sandy land. "Come on, we better take a walk and stop and smell the salty sea air."

"This is stupid!" Spinelli spat.

"Trust me, kid, this happened to me a lot too when I first came to the island. Let's just take a walk and you'll feel better in a flash."

"This better work."

"I'm sure it will, come on now."

Mike and Spinelli took their walk. After a while, the rushing ocean and the waves crashing seemed to calm Spinelli down a little bit. The birds called, some things splashed, some fish jumped high in the endless blue sky. Spinelli took some deep breaths like Mike advised and soon, she forgot about her home and school sickness.

"Thanks Mike, I think you cured me..." Spinelli said a little softly.

"No problem, Spinelli, I told you, you just needed a walk." Mike smiled back at her.

"I still kinda wanna go home though..."

"That's normal, just think of the adventures you can have here that you could never have back home."

"I just wonder what's going on back in school."

"Don't think about that too much now, you'll just make yourself upset again."

They both then heard some wailing.

"What's that?" Mike wondered.

"Sounds like Randall pulled on Miss Finster's girdle too tight." Spinelli said, simply.

"Come on, we better get going."

The tomboys rushed over. They found Lu crying and standing over the edge of a cliff. She was crying about something, or rather, someone and seemed to be in grief over a great loss of whoever she had just lost.

"What happened to you?" Mike asked as Lu let out another crying session.

"Oh, just when we were bonding!" Lu sniffled, turning to them.

"Who?" Spinelli asked.

"He almost learned to sit!" Lu rocked back and forth in distress.

"Who has?" Mike asked.

"And I learned to love him unconditionally!" Lu wiped her eyes, looking back at them fully now.

"Who?" Mike still was curious.

"I think she's talking about her turtle." Spinelli clarified.

"Yeah, Lancelot!" Lu cried.

"What about him?" Mike was still lost.

"He's gone!" Lu pointed under the cliff.

"Where?"

"There!"

"There? What did you do?"

"Well..." Lu stared at the bottom of the cliff, wondering what her pet had gotten into.

"I don't blame him, if I were Lancelot, I'd wish I was a snapping turtle and bite you!" Spinelli threatened.

Mike took Lu's hand and took her off to find Og to come up with a solution to the lost Lancelot. "Come on, here we go."

"I didn't do anything!" Lu huffed. "He jumped! I don't know why, we were playing a game and he jumped!"

"Well, come on, Action Guy or Senor Fusion would save your turtle, but they're not here," Mike tried to crack a sympathetic smile for the 'princess'. "Let's go get the turtle before he drowns."

"He's a turtle, he can't drown! He can swim!" Spinelli said, walking with them.

Lu looked back at her. "Lancelot is a land turtle, he can't swim!"

"Oh." Spinelli felt stupid now.

Lu grew extremely grateful that Mike and Spinelli agreed to help her get Lancelot back. Mike helped herself get into one of the rowboats Og made a while back and Mike grabbed the paddles and started to paddle against the rough ocean waves. They seemed really bad today. The New York tomboy was off to save Lancelot from a, as Lu put it, watery grave.

"Good luck out there, Mikey..." Spinelli said. She had called the girl 'Mikey' rather than just 'Mike' because of the namesake from Mikey Blumberg from back home. Only thing is, Mike was a girl, a natural athlete, and didn't know squat about poetry. Never did she feel so bad to have a Winger Dinger. "Are those sharks?" Spinelli saw fins in the distance surrounding Mike.

"Oh, I hope she comes back soon with Lancelot." Lu muttered, very worried for once about her pet.

Og came from nowhere and joined Spinelli and Lu of watching over Mike. "Who?" he asked Lu, noticing she had spoken in apprehension.

"Uh, well, Mike..." Lu said, nervously. If Og knew too much he would probably get her in trouble with the adults.

"Do what?" Og asked.

"Well, she's doing this very brave thing for me..." Lu stammered, coming up with a logical excuse for Mike to be way out at sea. "Actually... It's for Lancelot! But, umm..."

"What!" Og sounded shocked and worried for Mike's safety now.

"You're busted." Spinelli told Lu with a teasing smirk.

Lu looked agape at her, then back at Og nervously. Lu stammered and couldn't think of anything to back up that response.

"What is she doing for Lancelot?" Og finished his question, though he still seemed worried for Mike.

"Uhh... She's out going swimming with a shark or two." Lu shrugged.

Og's eyes widened and he was really concerned now. He had to save Mike before the girl would get in serious trouble. Og built a motorboat and put on his goggles as it was finished being created and he sailed it out into the ocean to save the exchange student. Spinelli and Lu stayed put on the island and watched Og go out for Mike and possibly Lancelot.

"Be careful!" Lu advised Og.

Later on, Og had found Mike, but they were having trouble coming back. Marjorie and Alfred came by and found Lu and Spinelli alone. The adults were unaware of what had happened to the remaining island children.

"Lu, Spinelli, my dears, have you seen Mike?" Marjorie asked.

"And Og," Alfred added. "Someone as happy and sha'p as my son."

"T-They took a boat ride, they'll be fine!" Lu interjected. She wasn't completely lying.

"Yeah, they'll be back in an hour or so." Spinelli added, shrugging.

"Well, I'm just not sure if I approve... I don't know if those two are old enough to go alone..." Marjorie sounded, well, unsure about those answers about where the children were.

"Now, dea', the boy's g'owing up." Alfred tried to compromise.

"Now, there are far such things as sharks..." Marjorie argued.

Og's parents kept talking about Mike and Og being on the boat ride alone. This was getting out of hand. The two were in possible danger and Og's parents are just arguing about Og being on a boat with Mike alone while Lancelot is probably dead by now.

"HELP!" Mike screamed from afar.

"Oopsie." Lu muttered.

Marjorie screamed. She saw that the sharks busted Og's boat and now Mike and Og were flying through the sky.

"WHOMPIN' BOBULA!" Spinelli gasped in shock and felt very worried for her new friends.

"It wasn't my fault!" Lu cried.

"Hold on, Mike! Og, your father's coming!" Marjorie called, bending back a palm tree. "Spinelli, you get on the other side!"

Spinelli nodded and went over to the other side as told. She grabbed the trunk to let the tree bend backward. Alfred was on top of the tree and ready to help save the children lost in their dangerous predicament.

"Hold on, kids, I'm coming!" Alfred called as he was through the air as Mike and Og were slowly falling toward the shark's hungry jaws.

"It was all Lancelot's fault!" Lu tried to get out of trouble with Marjorie, Alfred, Mike and Og.

"Aw, shove it!" Spinelli threatened. "If they get eaten, I'm gonna give you such a fat lip you'll WISH you were never the governor's daughter!"

Lu wailed out, crying.

Luckily for everyone, Alfred had saved Mike and Og. They were flying away from being swallowed from the carnivorous fish. However, Og still had the motor and the three wound up flying against some rocky land that was just above ocean level. They were now stranded with three sharks, still hungry and on the hunt for them.

"Hold on, I'll be there in just a jiff!" Marjorie called, grabbing Spinelli's hand and ran off with her to have her own way to help her distressed family.

Spinelli was astounded by the machine that Marjorie had. "Wow, I see where Og gets his creativity..." she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Hop on, Spinelli, we're saving them." Marjorie told her.

Spinelli nodded and climbed aboard. Marjorie started the sailboat/submarine machine and had it going to the water as she fiddled with the controllers. The sharks were alarmed as Mike, Alfred, and Og were excited to be rescued. Even Lu was happy for them and started cheering on Marjorie and Spinelli.

"All aboard!" Spinelli called.

"Right on!" Mike climbed up.

Alfred grabbed Og as the boy was fiddling with the boat's motor that was nearly destroyed. "Come on, son!

Og pulled on the string one last time. As he did, one of the sharks bit onto it and it sent him and the other two sharks flying into the sky. Everyone looked up with goggles as the sharks were blown away and not going to get their dinner tonight.

"They did it! They did it! They're saved! Hallelujah!" Lu praised. "They're coming back!" she laughed, then grew worried as the sharks were coming right back down. "Uh-oh, this can't be happening..."

"Protect the children!" Marjorie cried, pushing Og toward Alfred, Spinelli, and Mike.

The five were now trapped on the wooden platform with the sharks circling them. They all called for help, but the only one left was Lu. The girl was sitting, looking down in dismay, and then she realized she had been sitting on a very familiar turtle shell. After a brief reunion, Lancelot used himself as a boat and gave Lu a paddle and the girl was on her way to save everyone from a watery and deathly grave.

The wooden platform was nearly destroyed by the sharks as the remaining humans topped on each other, but in a blast, Lancelot and Lu came to their rescue. Lancelot speeded himself like a speedboat and crashed against the sand, sending everyone flying through the air and landing safely back on the island.

"Lancelot, you GOT to stop this silly running around!" Lu scolded her turtle with her hands on her hips. She had landed on top of Mike's head, who was on Spinelli's backside.

"Alfred, my dear," Marjorie spoke up in slight pain. "Don't we have a ride home for the little girl?"

"No, but I'm su'e Og can make one..." Alfred mumbled with Og pressed against his face.

"Boy, you help people out and look where it gets you!" Lu scoffed down at the others.

Spinelli shoved her off from Mike.

"What did I do!?" Lu grunted.

Chapter 8: Buzz Cut  
It was a slow day on the island. The ocean waves were rushing back and forth like on beach resorts. Mike, Og, and Spinelli ran about on the sand while Lu was in the corner, sitting with Lancelot, who was fanning her.

"Og, come to the royal personage, if you please!" Lu demanded, with a friendly, smug smile.

Og wasn't paying attention to her.

"Hey, Mike, check this out." Spinelli spotted something by her boot.

Mike looked down and saw an orange squid like creature. She picked it up then felt how squishy it was and how gross it smelled and quickly slipped it back down on the sandy floor.

Lu was coming forth, walking on her hands while Og was holding her feet like a wheelbarrow game. "The royal feet don't touch sand..." she told him.

Lancelot saw he could finally have some free time and kicked back, putting sunglasses on himself to relax for a change.

Mike rushed back and grabbed a stick as a crab snapped its claws at her. "Not very well-adjusted, anti-social with a hint of dysfunctionality..."

"Does not play well with others." Spinelli added.

"I'll play with you!" Lu cooed, picking up the crab. The crab tried to pinch her nose, but she dodged it. "Let's play like you can fly!" she threw the animal over her shoulder and Og's head.

"Crabs are weird," Mike said as she watched the crab beat up Lancelot for his shell. "They live in the water, and out of the water, which land do they hold their breath?"

"Too bad Gretchen's not here, I bet she knows." Spinelli shrugged, unsure herself.

"Crabs don't breathe, only PEOPLE breathe!" Lu scoffed.

Og had a scientific explanation. It was too quick for anyone to follow. Mike and Spinelli were amazed and a little slow on what the little guy was talking about. Og then dropped Lu as he continued to explain about crabs and whether they breathe under or out of water. There was then a tidal wave splash over the four of them. After that, Lancelot found a club and whammed his shell to get the crab out, successfully the crab walked out and decided to go away.

"I wish I was a crab..." Lu said to herself, watching the crab walk away.

"I thought you were." Spinelli deadpanned.

"I'd like to be a bird," Mike said, watching a seagull about to take off. "Your own private jet," she stood up and held out her arms like she were going to flap them to fly off the island. "An acrobat of stunt... No, no, no, no! I wanna be a helicopter..." she then imitated the vehicle's sound effects.

"What's a helicopter?" Lu asked, looking into the sky as though it had an answer.

"Aw, it's the best," Spinelli continued Mike's explanation. "It's like this bigger plane, but with a giant propeller on top, so it can fly, up and down, back and forth... Anywhere!"

"Kinda like a giant bumblebee that you can ride." Mike added.

Og grew a face of determination and inspiration. Everyone knew what that look meant.

"Oh, SURE! Make a giant bumblebee they can ride in, make anything for the exchange girls!" Lu snorted, sitting between Mike, Og, and Spinelli.

"He's gonna make one?" Spinelli wondered.

"Sister Ignatius would LOVE you in her science class." Mike smiled at Og's abilities.

Og stood up and walked with Mike and Spinelli to his workshop. Og had Mike's hand however. Spinelli wondered if Og had a crush on Mike or anything though, but happily followed.

Mike and Spinelli made a list of things they would need. Og told them what they would need to make a successful island helicopter. Mike took note of it and helped Spinelli gather the items. Lu stood by, folding her arms, not looking very interested, mostly because this wasn't going to be made for her.

"Wanna help?" Mike invited.

"Why would I wanna help?" Lu sneered. "Little-Miss-Get-Everything-She-Wants!"

"Told you." Spinelli muttered to Mike.

The two were then digging up some sand in a wheeled box to give to Og. Mike grimaced once she found a familiar animal on her shovel, a crab. Possibly the same crab from earlier. Mike and Spinelli then gathered rocks and accidentally collected Lancelot who had popped out and walked off, insulted.

"Sorry!" Mike and Spinelli told him.

Later on, Mike and Spinelli had to gather more rocks and even logs and sticks. It was very heavy, even with both of them carrying it.

"Maybe we should get Og to build a bulldozer first!" Spinelli grunted.

A grasshopper hopped onto Mike's nose. The girl screamed and the insect then went on top of the giant rock pile. The two went off course and fell on top of each other. Mike and Spinelli grunted a bit and saw Lu coming with Lancelot and a royal looking chair.

"I'm helping!" Lu bragged, then walked to Og.

Finally, Mike and Spinelli moved the final bits. They came to Og's workshop and were impressed with what they were seeing. Og pushed the helicopter over and it was ready for flying.

"It's a beaut!" Mike beamed.

"I wish I had my camera." Spinelli added.

"Uhh... Thanks..." Og smiled sheepishly in front of the girls.

Mike was about to climb in it.

"Hold it." Og warned.

"Yeah, HOLD IT!" Lu growled.

"What?" Mike looked at them.

"Not so fast, Miss Helicopter!" Lu snapped.

"What's wrong with you?" Spinelli glanced at Lu.

"Just, not so fast... That's all..." Lu said, simply and not as threatening as if she didn't know why she didn't say that.

Mike and Spinelli blinked at her.

"You always get what you want, and I never get what I want!" Lu argued. "You say you want something, BOOM! There it is. You want a helicopter? BOOM! You got a helicopter! But what about me? What do I get? I get sand! Palm trees! A TURTLE! Stuff that everybody gets!" she then found herself crying hoping that at least one of them would feel sorry for her.

"What do you want?" Mike asked, trying to compromise.

Lu cried, then smiled as she got to the end of the contraption. "I wanna fly it! Teach me!"

"I don't know how." Mike shrugged.

"Fine, Spinelli, YOU teach me." Lu then said.

"I don't know how either." Spinelli answered.

"Oh, sure, good one!" Lu laughed. "Pushy girls from the big city don't know how to fly! Tell me another one."

"W-We don't!" Mike argued.

Og came over with a book in his arms. "You gotta read the manual." He then opened the book for the girls to see.

What they all didn't know was that Lu was sneaking to climb aboard. She thought she didn't have to take this. "So, what's the manual say?" Lu asked out loud.

"It says 'read the manual first'." Mike replied.

Lu was arguing with Mike as Lu was starting up the helicopter. Mike told her not to do until they went through all of the manual. Lu clicked the on button and was fastened up and already going up into the sky. Og was deeply worried, Mike was concerned, Spinelli was a little freaked out. Would they all get in trouble if Lu were to crash to helicopter? Lu went all around the island and gave everyone buzz cuts.

Spinelli was worried about the safety of her hat and she threw it off, which gave her a buzz cut anyway on her head. Mike and Spinelli then vowed to never think about or touch another helicopter until they were back home. The only ones who weren't affected were Marjorie, Old Queeks, and Lu herself. Due to Marjorie's chair being ruined in the helicopter crash, Lu was punished to give everyone new hairstyles on the island to make up for their lost hair.

"Don't tell me, helicopter, right?" Spinelli turned to Og's animal friends.

The goat, pig, and porcupine nodded at her.

"Hey, Mike," Spinelli turned to her new best friend. "What do you say we call off on helicopters until one comes to give us a ride home?"

"Agreed." Mike nodded, feeling naked without her signature pigtails.


	8. Elephant Walk

On a calm, quiet island morning, Lu was wandering the island and Lancelot was carrying her around everywhere. She came across Og, Spinelli and Mike with some news that inspired her today: Elephants. She saw Alfred riding one for his hunting expedition, she asked Old Queeks to bless her with one, she even asked her father, Wendell, if she could have one as a pet. The kids were in the bushes, hiding from the giant pachyderms after Lu told them how amazing it would be to ride an elephant like an Indian royal.

"See? I told you!" Lu pointed to the elephants they stumbled across. "There's a whole troop of them! We can each ride one!"

The kids looked beyond to see a little farm land that held at least five elephants. Lu was right, boy that's an odd thing to say. Lu had told them she found riding around on Lancelot to be tiring, his shell was giving her a rough spot on her behind, and elephants were rather soft. Due to the hot day, the elephants were cooling off with the mud.

"You can have that one." Spinelli pointed, as she dodged some of the mud with the others.

Mike grunted and wiped some mud off herself. "Ugh, they're gross! I'm all covered in PYECK!"

Lu gagged and spit some of the mud out of her mouth. "Yeah, isn't it great?" Despite the muddy and dirty habits of the elephant, Lu was still eager to ride one for herself, and was actually willing to include her friends in on it.

Lancelot grunted, having most of the mud on himself.

"You're kidding, right?" Mike deadpanned to Lu.

"Don't you have to be like 16 to drive an elephant or something?" Spinelli spoke up.

Mike thought for a minute, then was inspired, similar to how Og would be sometimes. "What they need is a good clean."

"Yeah," Spinelli saw where this was going. "An elephant wash!"

"We gotta RIDE them!" Lu insisted.

Mike looked over to see the elephants still keeping cool in the endless island sun with some mud. "Not this cookie!"

"Help me or the turtle SUFFERS!" Lu threatened her pet, then looked angelic for the tomboys with their plan. "Please...?"

"I can make a thing of wash," Og spoke up, feeling inspired as well. "No problem."

"Aw, I guess if they were clean." Mike shrugged, still unsure about riding an elephant.

Lancelot was tip-toeing away. He successfully got away and jumped into a bush. Luckily for him, Lu didn't see or hear him and was completely oblivious to his loss, and wondered where he went. She wasn't as melodramatic though as when he was lost and ran away after they were playing together. Mike, Og, and Spinelli took this time to walk away from Lu and get started on the elephant wash.

While Lu was gone, Og was building in the elephant farmhouse. After a few tackling of tools, he thinks he had done it. He had Mike and Spinelli on the conveyor belt and turned to them. "Ready?" he signaled with one of his hands on the lever.

"Ready." the tomboys replied and waved at him.

Og lifted the lever and started the belt. Mike and Spinelli were being pushed back on the belt and they looked around with wonder and curiousity. Water sprinkled onto them, soaking their hair and clothes, but Spinelli did her best not to get angry, she knew Og wasn't doing this on purpose. Og then pushed a button to allow soft cushion to buff the two girls, but it sort of squished them. The girls were then blow dried suddenly and were nice and clean. Mike's hair was curled and puffed up like a pampered French poodle and Spinelli's pigtails were curled up and somehow, her ski cap had gotten a bow implanted on it, but she didn't mind.

"The world's first elephant washer/hair salon!" Mike beamed at her friend. She then gave a big thumbs up to Og in approval.

Og smiled and pulled the lever down to bring both girls back.

"Well done!" Spinelli clapped to Og.

Mike clapped with her, making the island boy bow, in his own acceptance. "Come on, Spinelli, we can get the elephants."

"Okay!"

Both girls went outside to pick an elephant to wash. This was going to be a whole new experience for them.

"Come on, Trunk Boy, time to get washed!" Spinelli was pulling one elephant by the tail.

"Not like that, Spinelli!" Mike told her. She then gave a very friendly smile, clapped her hands and held out one for an elephant. To her surprise and delight, the elephant extended his trunk and let it out for her to hold like a hand and take into the wash.

The elephants were starting to follow the one Mike had. Spinelli took the next one's trunk and started walking with it as well. Lu came over eventually and had Lancelot on her side and she quickly tied up his leash to keep him from escaping again. She crawled to see the elephants being washed with Mike and Spinelli leading them.

"Alright, now let's just take it easy." Spinelli cooed to the elephants.

One elephant lightly trumpeted at her and continued to follow.

"Yes, relax, relax," Mike added, stroking one of their trunks. "We're just gonna clean you up. Aw, man!"

"You got gunk on you too?" Spinelli came with gray smudges on the palm of her hands.

"Yeah, I have issues against this." Mike agreed, showing her hands were now smudged as well.

Og smiled that the tomboys successfully got the elephants in. He then pulled the lever to start the conveyor belt and carry the elephants in to get washed like a car wash back in both of Spinelli and Mike's hometowns. The elephant was nervous about the wash, but Mike tried to soothe him as he was coming through the water sprinklers.

Then, out of nowhere, Lu fell from the ceiling and crashed down on the elephant. "Yes!"

"Where did she come from!?" Spinelli gasped, a little overwhelmed for the pachyderms now.

The elephant was about to be scrubbed. It was too nervous to go through the brushing and tried to keep itself from going through it. This made the elephants behind him pile up and cause a big mess. Og pulled the lever to make the machine stop and back up and the elephants ran out of the shack as the elephant wash machine stop and they nearly broke the place they were once just in.

Lu was on one of the wild running elephants. Mike and Spinelli watched them ride over the island and crash into Alfred and Wendell. Just as Marjorie finished making pancakes, she was in for a surprise as well. Another crash and the elephant made its way to Old Queek's place.

"Well, I'm going back to Third Street, what's your plan?" Spinelli asked Mike about running away from the island since they nearly caused all this trouble.

"I think I'm gonna get a facelift and move to Canada." Mike shrugged.

Later, once the adults were settled, they placed the elephants back in their pen with the mud. The adults were very angry with the four children for the mess they caused today.

"What you did was serious!" Marjorie spoke up.

"Ve'y, ext'emely, se'ious." Alfred added in agreement.

"They ought to be tarred and feathered for what they did!" Old Queeks was the most angry out of the adults. "You ruined my house! My favorite chair! So much trouble!"

"Double, extremely trouble and very serious." Wendell folded his arms, looking quite firm.

"If it's one thing I know about elephants, it's that the mud keeps them cool and calm, take them away and they''e monstahs!" Alfred lectured.

"Sorry..." Og droned.

"Yeah, sorry." Spinelli added.

Mike didn't apologize, but her look said it all.

Everyone then leaned in to wait for Lu to apologize as well.

Lu, of course, didn't simply say sorry. She looked down shyly and shuffled her foot in the sand. She then smiled nervously and pointed to her pet turtle. "It was Lancelot's fault...?"

Lancelot looked agape at her and blinked rapidly as if to say 'What the heck, girl'?

Later, Mike, Lu, Spinelli, and Og were sentenced to clean up the elephants as punishment. However, not with the elephant wash like they planned to before, but with mud. Alfred told them that was how elephants kept clean and calm around situations and didn't need soap and water to be clean. Og scrubbed some mud off one elephant while Spinelli and Mike would lather some new mud onto the next elephant.

"I don't know about you guys, but I had enough of riding elephants!" Lu spoke up.

"It wasn't that bad an idea." Mike spoke up.

"Yeah." Og agreed, handing another bucket of mud to the tomboys.

"Yeah, it was..." Lu shrugged, then lit up again. "I was thinking more around the lines of a hippo! Or, or a rhino! How about a giraffe? They got really, really long necks! I could see my entire kingdom!"

Spinelli bumped over a bucket of mud. It then ended up landing all over Lu, making her quiet and calm for now. "Oops..."

Lancelot watched that with a wide smile. He seemed proud that someone had done that to her, accident or not accident.


End file.
